As you gear up for a new year of writing, it's important to set expectations and goals. Just "hoping to write a novel this year" probably won't result in a lot of work, so how will you approach it? A certain number of pages a day? A goal of a chapter a week? A month? … Continue reading Why You Need Realistic Writing Expectations
Category: Literature
Sometimes when we write, our main characters aren't all that unfamiliar. They may not be "us" exactly, but they might be fictional versions of ourselves—the people we'd like to be, sharing part of our own psychological makeup. This one might have our sense of adventure, that one our fondness for cooking, while another has our … Continue reading Unpacking Characters That Aren’t Like You
I'm a firm believer in having a good cover for your book. It's one of the first things your readers will see, and readers do make an assessment about your book from the cover. They have to—it's a major part of your publishing package, hinting at the style of writing, mood, type of characters, genre, … Continue reading Is It Worth Getting a Custom Cover Design?
Over the last year, I've had the blessing of working as an editor and book coach for some of the clients of Cherrie Woods, a publicist who has worked in the PR field for 16 years. Recently, she and author, producer, and business-woman V. Helena put out a podcast that discussed just what a publicist … Continue reading What a Publicist Does and Why You Might Want One
We've been looking at Les Misérables to see what writings lessons we can glean from it. Last post, we looked at the Plotting and Sub-plotting, and this time, I want to look at the characters. Hugo has an enormous cast of characters in this book, and honestly, there are times when even the most attentive readers … Continue reading Writing Lessons from Les Mis: Characterization
I really enjoyed this article about Octavia Butler and Robert Heinlein's Rules of Writing—and I found it amazing to think that a writer would actually suggest other writers should only edit when an editor made them; no wonder indie publishing struggles with that aspect, for no editor "makes" writers edit their work at all, at … Continue reading Octavia Butler’s and Robert Heinlein’s Rules of Writing — Reblog from A Pilgrim in Narnia
This week, the Insecure Writer's Support Group is asking how we celebrate a writing goal or completing a book. Click here to join the fun! As I was thinking this over, I realized I don't usually celebrate finishing a project. So often, it's "done-and-on-to-the-next." I think this is partly because of my schedule--book coaching projects … Continue reading Why We Should Celebrate Our Writing Goals
This week, the Insecure Writer's Support Group is asking what we love about the genre we most frequent, as writers. Click here to join the fun! I've talked about my journey into writing fantasy before, but it bears repeating (especially when it's the topic of the month). I came to fantasy very late. I never … Continue reading Why I Write Fantasy (with just a pinch of Sci-Fi)
So excited about this writing contest, hosted by a friend of mine (and I get to be one of the judges!). Check it out for a chance to win cash and get a short story published. 🙂
I've written about the overall formula for blurbs before, but today, I wanted to discuss characterization. It may seem like blurbs don't have enough room for characterization--that the back of the book snippet is just too short to do more than say who the main character is, what they're struggling with, and hint at why … Continue reading Why Characterization Matters in Blurbs
